Process for rendering wool textiles repellent to water and product made thereby



The present invention relates to improvements in or relating to the treatment of wool textiles for the purpose of rendering such textiles repellent to water.

Various processes have already been proposed for rendering wool repellent to water. Generally these processes may be divided into three groups as follows:-- i

(1) Processes in which or the like are used;

(2) Processes in which aluminium compounds are used;

(3) Processes in which the wool is treated with anhydrides of higher fatty acids.

All these processes have the disadvantage that they do not always meet the maximum of requirements. The processes under (I) produce good eifects, but the latter are not always sufliciently stable towards washing with soap. Further when such processes are used on fine knitted goods the quality of the latter is ail'ected. The processes according to (2) yield in part products which also do not well resist washing with soap or, if the products are greatly resistant to washing the processes, give them a hard feel. In the processes emulsions of paraflin under (3), in which raised temperatures have to be used, trouble may be caused by the yellow discoloration of the wool which mayoccur in certain cases. Moreover this process can only be carried out in installations which have the special equipment that is required for that purpose. The process described below is characterized by the fact that it yields products of non-deteriorated quality and that the eflects obtained with such .process have in practice an unlimited resistance towards the usual washing agents.

The process is based on the surprising discovery that wool is rendered to a high degree repellent to water in every stage of the working up processes, that is to say as loose wool, yarn, fabric and inthe form of knitted and woven goods whether ina raw, bleached or dyed condition, by

treatment with solutions of water-soluble salts of higher fatty acids, that is to say, acids with at least. 10 carbon atoms, provided this treatment is carried outvafter the goods have been thoroughly.

served, that. the surface of'the fibres must be freed of; impurities.

' 'After thetreatment, the goods haveito be.-

rinsed, preferably incoldwater. For rinsing,-

water of condensationmaybeused,.or softened water orgiordinarywater as used inoperating a textile works. If the water for operating the YUNITED sTATEs PATENT :QF'EEICE.

" 2,;1 l0,383 t1 rnocnss For; nENnERmGwoor'. TEXTILES REPELLENT T0 'WATER MADE THEREBY- I Alexander Nathansohn, Berlim 'signor to the firm- Studiengesellschalt' :v

Faserveredelung m. b. 11., Berlin,- Germany; I

No Drawing. Application November- 10, 1934, Se I rial No. 752,532. In Germany December 4,

'1 Claims. (01, 68-37) vsame way as the yarn in Examplejl and is then fatty alcohols, .per. litre; and iswell rinsedi .it is- AND- PRODUCT works is particularly hardit may be advantageous, to perform the rinsing in known manner. with, the use of suitablesoftening agents.

The following examples may serve the process of the invention. I I I l. Combed wool yarn, dyed from ,acidbath, is very carefully rinsed by. agitating in water.

' immediately after the dyeingvoperationvor. after it has been dried. If'the rinsing. liquor becomes acid there is added, if-desired after replacing the water several times, ;sumcient ammonia, soda,v or other substance ofz alkaline reaction untilthe liquor has becomequite neutral The yarn then treated-with or; without previous dryingwith 20 times itsweight of an aqueous solution containing 3 gramsof shredded commercialpot ash soap and 0.3 gram of calcined, sodium car-,

'bonate per litre while agitating for 20 minutes at a temperature of 2 5- 30 (2. The yarn is then rinsed well (until it has become practically odorless) and is dried. 1 The yarn is found tovbe repellent to water to ahigh degree, I

2. Fulled cloth, which has been dyed in the piece from an acidbath, is .first cleaned in the treated for 10 minutes and at a temperature of 35 C.'in a washing machine with 20 times the quantity of a liquor, consisting of an aqueous solution of 5' grams coconut-fat potassium soap with frequent squeezing off. .The material is first, rinsed with condenser water, then'with hard water, to which about 0.15 gram of a softening agent containing Turkey red oil was added, and finally the material was washed again for-ashort time with condenser water. After drying the cloth is roughened, brushed, shorn and hot-pressed. The cloth has becometremarkably resistant to water.

' 3. Field-gray cloth for uniforms, .made from I dyed loose wool, is carefully washed and 'neutralized after it has been fulled and-carbonized. In order to clean the clothcompletely, it is treated with a solution of 0.2'gram of a..syn.- thetic washing agent,;,such as Turkey red oil or. preparations made-up, from sulphonated higher.

then treated in a washing machinefo r 25 minutes; at a temperature, of'25-2'7 C. witha solutionas described in Example lor v 2. material is I finished in the ,manneryand ha s the; same strong water :repelling capacityas,,that of E'x ample2. v

4.-Gabardine, dyed@frcmgan ;-acid .bah is, washed, in'fa bath; -,containing ;0.2 gram ,of. ,a.

thetic washing' agent perorlitreiwithi aid itienofzso much ammonia that the liquor remains neutall even after treatment of the cloth. It is'then subjected to the usual mechanical finishing proceu. The material is eminently suitable for rain-coats.

The usual textile soaps, such for example as the shredded potash soaps-used for fulling or the like, may be used'for the process according to the invention; but it has been found to be advantageous to use such soaps as do not have an unpleasant smell. Not) onlyls it relatively difficult to remove such a smell from the goods, but moreover some of odoriferous substances, es

pecially those of an aldehyde nature, are detriused for the purpose. Commercial soaps such as the shredded potash soaps already referred to,

Marseilles soap, soap flakes and soap powder may be used. The concentration may be varied but, in order'to obtain good results, not less than 0.5 gram per litre and for practical purposes not more than 10 grams per litre are used. If the concentration is too high; the process becomes uneconomical and inferior-results are produced. It is usual therefore to use from 1 to 4 grams per litre. The temperatures are held-preferably betweenand C.; in, the case of thicker ma terials' it may be advantageous'to raisethe temperature tom- C. The duration 'of the process has a comparatively small influence on the efiect when the temperatures are low'; it seems to be produced almost instantaneously and it is immaterial whether the treatment lasts for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes or an hour. At higher temperatures the efifect deteriorates if the treatment is prolonged; for instance at 50? the treatment is not continued for more than- 54' hour. I

It is seen from these examples that it is advisable to work at temperatures of at least 25 C.

The addition of sodium carbonate or its equivalents is always advantageous if there is-a possibility of the materiai'still containing traces of acid, but the addition of sodium carbonate may be useful also in other cases; it is not however used-in quantities larger than-2 grams per litre..

It is sometimes advisable when a sumcient resistance to water is not obtained by a single treatmentaccording to the process of the invention, to repeat the process once or twice: on the same material. j 7

It will appear from the above observations that the process can be carried out successfully in very different waysprovided that the main condition, that is. to say, the cleanliness of the material to be treated, is fulfilled. The mode of carryingout the process thus depends to alarge extent on the pretreatment to which the material was subjected and on whether impurities due to the pretreat ment and which can only with difilculty be washed out, adhere to the fibres or not. The processcan most easily be carrie'dout with success on materials which have previously'been dyed in the b0 ing liquor ofan acid. bath. This dyeing operation involves in itself a thorough cleaning of the fibre and if is merely completed by very careful rinsing and neutralization, the treat-- ment produces the most favorable results without further diilicuity. Greater attention is necessary however if the material has finally been fulled or subjected to carbonization. In such cases the ordinary rinsing is frequently insufficient in order to free the fibre from substances which are active on the surface. In such cases it is necessary in order, for reasons of economy, to avoid a repeated treatmentof the material, to carry out the,preliminary washing with particular care, either by using soap in higher concentration and in a short liquor or' by using synthetic washing agents or alumina. The preliminary washing is always accompanied by neutralization.

The quantity of liquor which is used for the actual treatment depends in some measure on the pretreatment .of the material. In the case of materials such as the last mentioned goods, or bleached goods, where small quantities of products of decomposition may adhere to the fibre despite careful preliminary washing, the liquor must in no case be too short, and in such cases the treatment-is generally carried out withl0-20 times the quantity of liquid, so that the accumulation in the liquor of any decomposition products which may stm be present does not attain too pregnation must always be carried out after'the last acid treatment, that is to say after dyeingand.aft'er.carbonizing. The fulling and bleaching should also preferably precede it. However all the finishing processes which are carriedout by mechanical means or steam may follow the impregnating process.

The requirement that. .the. treatment with salts of higher fatty acids according to the invention must be carried ?'out on material that has been cleaned, esplains-the fact that the observation which underlies thepre'sent invention soap and sodium carbonate in cloth manufacture or in the working up of wool as combed wool or yarns has been-carried out mainly 'ior't-he purpose of removing grease from-such material, or in some cases for the purpose 'oif removing fatty substances with which such goods becomecontaminated during their process of manufacture.

has not hitherto been made. The treatmentwith Cloth;is subjected in such cases to a .very intensive treatment with soap and. sodium carbonate,

for instance a piece of cloth of 30 kil ams dry weight is treated with 30 litres of soda lye of 4 B. and 10 litres of soap solution containing about 0.6 kilogram of dry substance. Allthe impurities accumulate in this short liquor to a high concentration, and thus prevent the produc-v tion of the new efi'ect,.and for this reason cloth which has been so treated does not show a capacity for repelling water even after 'it 'hasbeen rinsed. It is true that fine combed wool yarns are (before dyeing) treated a little more carefully with soap and soda, in order'to remove the grease before dyeing, but even in this "care ful treatment the impure condition of the surface prevents the occurrence of the new effect.

and further any indication of the new eifect would be destroyed by subsequent dyeing. The term wool in the sense of the present invention comprises, in addition to sheep wool, animal hairs of all kinds and further so called artificial or old wool. The term textiles as used in the sense of the present invention includes felt and similar materials made of wool.

1. Process of rendering textiles of wool repellent to water, comprising thoroughly cleaning the textile of all impurities, subjecting it to an additional treatment in a soap solution free of such impurities, and rinsing to remove the soap solution therefrom.

2. Process of rendering textiles of wool repellent to water, comprising thoroughly cleaning the textile of all impurities, subjecting it to an additional treatment in a soap solution freeof such impurities at a temperature of 25 to 50 degrees C., and rinsing to remove the soap solution therefrom.

3. Process of rendering textiles of wool repellent to water, comprising thoroughly cleaning the textile of all impurities, subjecting it to an additional treatment in a soap solution free of such impurities'and containing from 1 to 4 grams of soap per liter, and rinsing to remove the soap solution therefrom.

4. Process of rendering textiles'of wool repellent to water, comprising thoroughly cleaning the. textile of all impurities, subjecting it to an additional treatment in a soap solution free 01 such impurities and containing from 1 to 4 grams of soap per liter and also containing sodium carbonate in quantity not exceeding 2.

grams per liter for preventing acidity of the bath or material during the additional treatment, and rinsing to remove the soap solution therefrom.

5. Process of rendering textiles of wool repellent to water, comprising thoroughly cleaning the textile of all impurities, subjecting it to an additional treatment in a soap solution free of suchdegrees C., and rinsing at a like temperature to remove the soap solution therefrom. I 7. A water repellent wool textile having th flbersther'eof prepared by thoroughly cleaning the textile of all impurities, and thereafter subjecting it to an additional treatment in a soap solution Ireepf such impurities and finally rinsingtoremove the soap solution therefrom.

ALEXANDER NATHANSOHN. 

